


Compassion

by TheNerdKing



Series: After "I Love You" [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Minor Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Minor Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Plans For The Future, Post-Canon, Protective Entrapta, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 07:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24346906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdKing/pseuds/TheNerdKing
Summary: Adora and Hordak have a lot to talk about.
Relationships: Adora & Hordak (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Series: After "I Love You" [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756225
Comments: 8
Kudos: 217





	Compassion

Adora glared at Hordak as he talked with Entrapta. He was… different. His eyes had turned back from green to red, though his hair was still in a transitional phase, black streaks appearing amongst the white. He wore a simple black dress in place of his old armor or Prime’s robes.

It was not only his appearance that had changed, however. It was downright bizarre to see Hordak smiling and nodding along as Entrapta rambled on about her adventures in space.

“Are you sure you want to talk to him alone?” Catra asked. “I grew up in the Horde too, remember?”

“No,” the blonde reaffirmed. “If we confront him together, he might feel ganged up on.”

“Okay,” Catra conceded, “but please be careful. You know how dangerous he is.”

“I know. I promise, I’ll be back in a minute. Hopefully, we both will.”

Catra smiled and gave Adora a kiss.

“I love that we can do that now,” she said, waving goodbye as she jogged over to where Scorpia and Perfuma were weaving flower crowns.

Noting how lucky she was to have Catra, Adora steeled herself and marched over to Hordak.

Noticing Adora’s approach, Entrapta positioned herself in front of Hordak defensively.

“We need to talk,” Adora stated simply. “Just the two of us.”

Hordak sighed. “I suppose I owe you that much. Entrapta, may Adora and I have a moment?”

“Why?” the inventor asked, concerned. “What does she want with you?”

“I just want to talk,” Adora said reassuringly.

Entraptra looked at Adora, then at Hordak, before giving a reluctant “Alright.”

Adora led Hordak deep into the Whispering Woods

“This is far enough,” she said once she was sure they were deep enough that they wouldn’t be interrupted.

“I assume you have not brought me here to kill me,” Hordak mused. “If you wanted me dead, you would have struck me down after destroying Prime.”

Adora nodded. “You’ve done a lot of bad things trying to get Horde Prime’s approval, but I want to believe that without his influence, you can make up for what you’ve done.”

“And you want to confirm that I am a changed man,” the clone surmised.

Again, Adora nodded. “I have a simple question: what are you going to do now, and will I have to stop you?”

She stared him down for several seconds as he thought over his response.

Eventually, he spoke. “I was the first to encounter you when you were brought to Etheria. I remember it like it was yesterday. As I looked into your brilliant blue eyes, full of curiosity and wonder, I felt something stir deep within myself. I wanted to take you in, protect you, teach you, pamper you. I wanted to…” He trailed off.

Realization struck Adora like a brick. “You wanted… to raise me? Like a daughter?”

“Yes,” he admitted. “But that is not the will of Prime. He may have called us ‘brothers’, but the truth was, the Horde had no room for family, only for soldiers. The affection I felt for you… scared me.”

“So you gave me to Shadow Weaver.”

“Yes, and I am sorry for that. As I said, the Horde has room only for soldiers, so you and the other children were taught to be good soldiers. Blindly obedient. Mercilessly brutal. Utterly terrified of failure. That is not the way to raise a child. But I was afraid that if I raised you and your ilk as children, I would forsake my mission.

Still, my fondness for you remained. I observed you as you grew, watching from afar as you became the Horde’s greatest prodigy. I could not help but feel pride in your accomplishments. Your ‘betrayal’, for lack of a better word, filled me with shame. It was the newest in a long line of failures.

And yet… You saved me. Your face was the first thing I saw upon being freed from Prime’s grasp. And in that moment, I realized how truly spectacular you are. To free me after all I have done takes a kindness that you could never have learned in the Horde. You have become so much greater than I could have ever imagined. You truly are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

You ask what I want to do now; I want to be the kind of person worthy of your compassion. I want to be better. And… I want a real family.”

“With Entrapta?” Adora guessed.

Hordak’s ears tilted downwards, red dusting his cheeks. “... If she will have me.”

“Are you blushing?” Adora giggled. “You  _ have _ changed. Speaking of Entrapta, she’s probably worried about you. We should get back to camp.”

She held out a hand. Surprised, Hordak took it, and they started on their way back.

“For the record,” she said as they walked, “if you hadn’t taken me to the Fright Zone, Light Hope would’ve gotten a hold of me much earlier, and the Heart of Etheria probably would’ve killed us all. So in a way,  _ you _ saved  _ me _ .”

Hordak smiled gently. “That is good to hear. Thank you, Adora.”

When they got back to camp, Entrapta grabbed Hordak by the arm.

“Are you okay?” she asked anxiously. “Did she threaten you? What happened?”

“I’m alright,” he replied. “Adora is your friend, Entrapta. You should know she keeps her word.”

“I know, but…” She pulled her mask down over her face. “I’m just worried about you.”

Hordak shrunk away, embarrassed.

“You don’t need to worry about me hurting Hordak,” Adora said. “I think we’ve come to an understanding. He’s gonna be fine.”

  
  



End file.
